Inland Thornbill
Acanthiza apicalis
The Inland Thornbill (Acanthiza apicalis) is a uncommon gerygones, thornbills, scrubwrens, and alli found only in Australia, weighing about 8 g. The inland thornbill was originally described by English ornithologist John Gould in The Birds of Australia.
About the Inland Thornbill
The inland thornbill was originally described by English ornithologist John Gould in The Birds of Australia. Inland thornbills are within the order passerines. The inland thornbill belongs to the genus Acanthiza, which now has three more species than the eleven outlined by Gould in The Birds of Australia. The Noongar people of southwestern Western Australia call A. apicalis "Djoobi-Djoolbang". The inland thornbill is also known as the broad-tail thornbill and presently contains several subspecies that were once considered independent species. The word apicalis comes from the Latin for 'tipped'.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
The inland thornbill is very similar to the brown thornbill (A. pusilla) in appearance, and these two species are sometimes considered conspecific. The brown thornbill is slightly smaller than the inland thornbill at approximately 10 cm (3.9 in) compared to 11.5 cm (4.5 in). The inland thornbill has white speckling on the forehead, while the brown thornbill has rufous speckling and is less grey than the inland thornbill. Range and habitat is the easiest way to differentiate these two species.
Where it lives
When to see it
The Inland Thornbill can be seen all year round, with peak activity in October. It is a resident species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify an Inland Thornbill?
- The inland thornbill is very similar to the brown thornbill (A. pusilla) in appearance, and these two species are sometimes considered conspecific. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is an Inland Thornbill?
- The Inland Thornbill is a tiny sized bird weighing about 8 g.
- Where can you see an Inland Thornbill?
- The Inland Thornbill is endemic to Australia, which is the only country where it occurs.
- What birds look similar to an Inland Thornbill?
- The Inland Thornbill is most easily confused with the Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, the Buff-rumped Thornbill and the Tasmanian Thornbill.
- Is the Inland Thornbill endangered?
- The Inland Thornbill is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Inland Thornbill for real
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